Technology & Learning - February 2008 - (Page 22) Advantages of Ning 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Unlike most social networking sites, Ning offers teachers and administrators a variety of control features, including the six listed below: to facilitate learning, an educator would have little control Strict control of network membership (networks can be made pubover student activilic or private). ties or communicaThe ability of administrators to remove or edit content created by tions. Alternately, a any user. service such as Ning The flexible control of network features (communication and notifiis more appropriate. cation features can be added or removed). Ning, the prime Minimal (and custom) information requirements for user sign-up. collaboration tool Ad-free networks for K–12 classrooms. for the international The reporting of all network activities (e.g., blog/media posts and social learning commenting through RSS feeds), making it easy for teachers to projects described react, if necessary, to inappropriate posts. above, is a sophisticated platform that such projects, with central issues being allows anyone to create their own control and administration, and the social network. The Ning platform health of the online environment. includes a number of important features vital to supporting student Control and safety (see “Advantages of Ning,” Administration upper left). Educator control over the social Creating and administering a network service may be the most private social network is an excellent important strategy for assuring safety method for establishing a safe social within the social learning experilearning experience. Though at this ence, especially when working with time Ning seems to be the easiest young children. While services like and most complete tool for network MySpace or Facebook could be used creation, other services such as Snappville and BrainHoney, from Agilix, are promising as well. Dr. Alec Couros is a professor of Educational Technology and Media in the Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Canada. Vendor Filter Solutions The following is a partial list of companies that offer security solutions. 8e6 Technologies (solutions: ProxyBlocker and Mobile Client) www.8e6.com/education.html ActivatorDesk (solutions: ActivatorDesk, ActivatorDesk Enterprise Controller, ActivatorMail) www.activatordesk.com Aladdin Knowledge Systems (solution: eSafe) www.aladdin.com CIPAFilter http://cipafilter.com/ Deep Nines Technologies (solution: Deep Nines iTrust) www.deepnines.com/solutions/ Education.php DyKnow (solution: DyKnow Monitor) www.dyknow.com/products/monitor/ Fortres Grand Corporation (solution: Fortres 101) www.fortresgrand.com Social Networking Resources Social Networks Worth Exploring Agilix’s BrainHoney www.agilix.com/BrainHoney.aspx Free online, collaborative learning. Imbee www.imbee.com Free social network for kids, teachers, and parents. Ning www.ning.com Flexible platform for building your own social network. Snappville www.snappville.com Another platform to create your own social network. Study Curve www.studycurve.com Free network with a focus on tutoring and homework help. Resources for Social Network Safety Classroom 2.0 http://classroom20.ning.com Social networking site focused on Web 2.0 technologies in education. digizen www.digizen.org Superb online safety site from the UK. Media Awareness Network www.media-awareness.ca Excellent media literacy study from Canada. NetSmartz www.netsmartz.org Comprehensive online safety site, great for children. Lightspeed Systems (solution: Total Traffic Control) www.lightspeedsystems.com/ K12Networksecurity.aspx McAfee (solution: McAfee Web Filtering Module) www.mcafee.com/us/ SonicWALL (solution: SonicWall Content Filtering Solutions) www.sonicwall.com/us SpectorSoft (solutions: Spector CNE and Spector 360) www.spectorsoft.com St. Bernard Software (solutions: iPrism and LivePrism) www.stbernard.com Websense www.websense.com/content-filter/ 22 | www.techlearning.com http://www.8e6.com/education.html http://www.activatordesk.com http://www.aladdin.com http://cipafilter.com/ http://www.deepnines.com/solutions/Education.php http://www.dyknow.com/products/monitor/ http://www.fortresgrand.com http://www.lightspeedsystems.com/K12Networksecurity.aspx http://www.agilix.com/BrainHoney.aspx http://classroom20.ning.com http://www.mcafee.com/us/ http://www.imbee.com http://www.digizen.org http://www.sonicwall.com/us http://www.ning.com http://www.media-awareness.ca http://www.spectorsoft.com http://www.snappville.com http://www.netsmartz.org http://www.stbernard.com http://www.studycurve.com http://www.websense.com/content-filter/ http://www.techlearning.com
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